Dry towns slow to change

Liquor licenses can be hard to come by in region

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP - Bahri Yilmaz knows that some people, if
given the choice, would much rather have wine with their
dinner.

It's a preference that often leads people to walk out of his
Hopewell Township restaurant when they are told the place cannot
serve liquor. And while he said it pains him - and his business -
to see patrons go, Yilmaz admitted it was understandable.

"When I go out with my wife, I like to have a cold beer with my
steak," Yilmaz said Wednesday at his Route 49 restaurant, the Green
Olive. "The consumer has changed. Today, 85 percent of people like
to have a glass of wine with their meal."

But it is a change that has been slow in coming to several towns
and cities in southern New Jersey - a region still marked by
Prohibition-era bans on the sale of alcohol.

Perhaps the most famous of the area's dry towns is Ocean City,
Cape May County, a former Methodist summer camp that has managed to
keep its abstinence despite its emergence as a bustling tourist
destination.

Others, such as the Cumberland County township of Hopewell, have
been dry for decades, but not necessarily for a religious
reason.

Hopewell Township Mayor Bruce Hankins said Wednes-day that it
probably was due more to the township's sleepy character as a
farming community than to any kind of moral principle.

"It just was always dry and I don't think anybody ever wanted
it," he said. "The package goods stores were always in Bridgeton. I
don't think the township residents would be in favor of a bar or
package goods store."

When Yilmaz opened the restaurant in 2005, he filed a petition
to bring the issue of liquor sales to the voters in a referendum.
It was defeated by the slim margin of about 15 votes, he said.

Other towns have had success with such referendums. The city of
Linwood in Atlantic County sold its first liquor license for
$500,000 in 2003 after residents voted overwhelmingly to allow
drinks to be served.

Budgetary concerns also prompted West Cape May officials to
consider ending its dry status in 2007, and voters approved the
idea. That municipality, however, has yet to adopt an ordinance
that would allow two liquor licenses.

Dennis Township, also in Cape May County, repealed its dry
status in 2001. Its first distribution liquor license, which went
up for bid during a closed-envelope auction, sold for $1.1
million.

More than 30 dry towns remain in New Jersey.

Municipalities that prohibited the sale of liquor by referendum
must resort to the same mechanism if they seek to undo their bans.
If denied, applicants must wait five years before trying again. If
approved, the population of the community determines the number of
available liquor licenses.

According to Title 33, the state law that governs the sale of
liquor, one consumption license can be issued per 3,000 people.
Distribution licenses are doled out per 7,500 people.

Towns with fewer than 1,000 residents, however, are granted one
consumption license and one distribution license.

Yilmaz said he plans to take another shot at a referendum when
he becomes eligible to do so next year.

He said he was hopeful the outcome will be different now that
local residents are familiar with his business. As it is now,
Yilmaz said, wait staff at the restaurant uncork 40 to 50 bottles
of wine per night during the weekend.

Yilmaz's confidence also has been boosted, he added, by the
surveys customers fill out asking whether they would support the
granting of a liquor license.

"I don't think they're against it," he said.

As far as township government was concerned, Hankins said he
didn't think anyone was solidly against it.

"It's a question for the voters," Hankins said. "My gut feeling
is that the Green Olive runs a good operation and has invested a
lot of money in the township. I don't think the people would object
to it now that they have a track record."